China lifts ban on nuke plant approvals: council

BEIJING--China has lifted a ban on new nuclear power stations imposed after Japan's Fukushima disaster last year, but will only approve projects proposed for coastal areas, the government said.

A "small number" of coastal nuclear power plants will be allowed before 2015, said a statement issued by China's State Council following its meeting on Wednesday that also revised down targets for new atomic capacity.

Seeking to allay safety fears, the State Council said that all new nuclear plants will be constructed according to "third-generation safety standards," which apply to the most recent generation of nuclear reactors.

The ban on approvals of inland power plants is likely to halt the construction of three proposed projects, local media said.

The Pengze nuclear power plant in Jiangxi province, the Dafan plant in Hubei province, and the Taohuajiang plant in Hunan province, all in central China, will be "severely hit" by the ban, the state-run Economic Reference newspaper reported.

The Pengze plant was loudly protested by local officials in neighboring Anhui province this February, who said that building the plant in an earthquake-prone area would endanger local residents.

The white paper stressed that China had never experienced a serious nuclear incident and that authorities had carried out "comprehensive safety inspections ... which showed that nuclear security is guaranteed in China."